Three men went on trial in France on Thursday over a 2023 home invasion at the house of Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, but one of the original suspects was missing from the dock. Seyni Dia, 21, was found hanged in his cell at Fresnes prison in 2024, before the case could reach court.
Dia had been arrested as part of the investigation into the break-in at Donnarumma's home, which took place a year before his death. His mother has since spoken publicly, telling French radio station RMC that she does not believe her son took his own life, and accusing the men who forced him into the robbery of having him killed.
Donnarumma is Italy's international goalkeeper and was playing for Paris Saint-Germain at the time of the break-in. According to earlier reporting on the case, he was beaten until he bled and his partner was strangled with a phone charger cable during the home invasion. Proceedings in the wider trial have also touched on an alleged miscarriage and on testimony from a police informant.
Mother points to convicted ringleader
The mother said she believes the person responsible for her son's death is one of the men who organised the robbery, known as "Ganito." Also 21, he is known to police for several kidnapping cases and escaped from Villepinte prison in March with the help of two police officers.
Son came home covered in wounds
Before the home invasion, the mother had already grown worried about her son, who was known to police for drug trafficking. She said he sometimes came home badly hurt, once with stab wounds and bruises from being punched, and stayed in bed at home for more than two weeks recovering. She said she asked him who had hurt him and told him to go to police, but that the family never found out what had happened. She believes he was forced to join the robbery gang to settle a debt.
"He told me he felt threatened"
Dia later told investigators about the debt himself after his arrest. In the weeks before his death, he told his mother he felt threatened. Investigators are still working to establish the exact circumstances of his death, but his mother said she does not accept that it was suicide.
She said Ganito, even from behind bars, remains a very violent person. She was a kind boy, she said of her son, and insisted he was killed.
